Universal Life Church ordination

Post Reply New Topic

Completely random thought here.

Who else on Wrong Planet is an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church? Since 1962, it has welcomed more than 18 million ordained ministers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Life_Church including many celebrities such as The Beatles, Alanis Morissette, Conan O'Brien, Barbra Streisand and Richard Branson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_m ... ife_Church . Musician Courtney Love (who was diagnosed with mild autism) is also an ordained ULC minister https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtney_Love#Early_life .

So, are you (or have you been) ordained by the ULC?

No. It sounds really interesting, though. I like how it accepts people regardless of their religion or background.

Yep. Ordination is free and lifelong. Supplies are pretty cheap, too (not that they are required). When same-sex marriage got going in Utah last year, I grabbed my ordination and high-tailed it to my old employer at the Salt Lake County Office of the Clerk to offer triage officiation if needed. This being Utah, there were actually more officiants than were needed. Still, I liked being ready, just in case. I would advise signing up for those reasons alone.

Besides, how fun is it to be a member of the same club that once included John Lennon?!?

I've thought of it, but can't see any reason to run the Preacher Con.

Back in the 70's this one local MC in B'ham got every patched guy ordained through it. They used to answer the phone at the clubhouse "Universal Life Church" LOL!

I've probably studied enough about religion to be ordained a Baptist minister (except they don't ordain women), a Unitarian Universalist minister (except I don't regard The Grapes of Wrath as a holy document), and a NeoPagan high priestess (except I'm not liberal enough).

I'm not any of those things, and I'm not sure I care to take an ordination that requires only that I fork over the ordination fee to the ULC. They bother me.

"...Grapes of Wrath...." Hehe!

Actually, the original ULC sites ( http://www.ulc.net/ ), ( http://www.ulchq.com/ ) and ( http://www.ulcseminary.org/ ) charge nothing for its ordination. Other, unrelated ULC sites might charge; I wouldn't know. They are often very different from the intent and function of the original church.

I understand that ordination generally and ULC ordination specifically isn't for everybody, but as I wrote in the OP, it is a random thought for those who might have never heard of the opportunity and merely want to take advantage of it.

I am ordained with this church. Have been for 4-5 years but have never done any ministerial type things. Universal church is non denominational so really it could be used to preach almost anything as long as the terminology is generic. I have never heard a minister in a Universal Life Church use the term "God" in the Christian sense. I would never be able to get up in front of other people and speak about anything.

The Southern Baptist Convention doesn't, but I think that the American Baptist Church does ordain women. Their theology might be a bigger deal breaker, though.

Love the UUA reference, LOL. I'll have to remember that when I talk to my UU friends. I think they're also required to listen to The Prairie Home Companion and NPR in general.

I became ordained in 2002 after a U.S. District Court for the District of Utah opinion which determined that a state law which prohibited the church's ordinations via the Internet was unconstitutional. I haven't practiced any ministerial activities, but, as I wrote previously, I thought that I might need to do so during last year's same-sex marriage spree.

Yeah, I got ordained a while ago, though I didn't print out the certificate.

It gets you free rides on the subway. I had to look pretty hard in the bible to find that, but it's there.

Thanks for sharing, and I find it particularly interesting that all the Beatles received their ordinations from this Universal Life Church Organization.

And I'm also not much one for joining organizations, as working for the federal government for almost a quarter of century, has driven me away from all institutions, frigging paperwork, guidelines, instructions, etc.. to regain my ART of humanity, away from robot styles of thinking.. But not writing..haha!

For many in the 1960s, ordination was a way to avoid the military draft. While the Beatles wouldn't have been drafted, the intent of their ordinations was probably to help belie the idea of powerful institutions (like God Inc.) having monopolies over such things as marriage and funerals.

I'm really not sure about this because it belies a fraud of some sort.

If it's rebellious of the notion of formal ordination etc, then it's just creating another structure for it, undermining its own rebellion.
If it's just a dodge for getting around legalities and study, then it's just a dodge.
What is it, if not one of these two things?

I can't find a reason for its existence that isn't somehow ignoble. I put it in the same category as those diplomas and degrees you can buy off the Internet. Yet somehow people think that's ok?

True in a legalistic way. And, I am certain that some use it for questionable reasons, diplomas and all. But, what of those many religions and near-religions where their adherents strive to have personal relationships with God (or nature) without the intercession of other humans such as saints, popes and pastors? The logical extension of these personal relationships might include very small communities of like-minded individuals who choose to recognize and trust their own ministerial abilities or those of a family member. Yes, it could be abused, but the idea is appealing for those who see little personal or spiritual advantage to conventional corporate churches.

After all, someone once said that "...where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." To me, that sentiment sounds favorable to the idea of private, independent ordination if such ordination is needed and desired. In the marriage-spree that I described from my own community last year, the necessity of ordained officiants was very much like a triage situation where a superior court could have shut down the whole operation at any moment. We all knew that and acted quickly to help complete the processes that made thousands of brand-new families in a couple of weeks. Expecting those new marriages to find conventional officiants would have hampered that goal. In that respect, I saw nothing but good coming from those who chose to become ordained.